Lake Merritt Tidal Marsh Project

Dear Tidal Marsh Enthusiast,This season our tidal marsh has continued to evolve, and the plants our volunteers put in last year have spread significantly. In the upper elevations of the marsh terrace we now see saltgrass, jaumea, marsh heather, pickleweed, and gumplant all intertwined, with a few sea lavender and lots of sea arrowgrass to boot. In addition, the formerly sterile mud is now perforated with burrows made by polychaete worms, which likely explains the daily presence this summer of a pair of spotted sandpipers browsing the water’s edge.The experimental pickleweed pens installed by the City and other fencing installed by volunteers were a great success, with monitoring by Oakland High School students showing a survival rate exceeding 80% within the pens. Outside of the fences, any green sprouts were immediately eaten to bare mud by the Canada geese, resident domestic ducks, and in the winter, American Coots. Our experiment also showed no difference between seedlings in the pens protected from washout by rocks vs. those without rocks, indicating that last year’s disappearing plants were not washed out by the tide, but rather were pulled out by birds.In early summer we noticed that a few pickleweed seedlings had sprouted outside of the fencing, under a protective cover of flotsam. Mid-summer we added fencing connecting some of the circular pickleweed pens together to create a larger fenced zone between them. More pickleweed seedlings appeared and have thrived. We hope that with the fencing already in place to protect this year’s seed crop, we will get significantly more seedling survival next spring. Adding more fencing between other pens this fall would be the logical next step, expanding the protected area to encourage more seedlings. In a few years the fencing would be removed, once plants are big enough to fend for themselves.The adjacent 10th Street project picked up steam again, and work is now underway on the Lake Merritt side of the street, next to the marsh. When rough grading is finished they will start construction of the second half of the roadway bridge. In a year and a half or so the old culverts can be removed, increasing the natural tidal flow.Now the bad news. The area adjacent to the tidal marsh has again become a favorite campsite. After a six-week quiet period following enforcement by the City early this year, campers have returned to the area near the marsh. Some have now been there for months, and others have moved in more recently. Lately the marsh perimeter fence has been cut open on a daily basis, and camper debris (food waste, feces, bottles of urine, and general garbage) is routinely tossed into the marsh. Volunteers have found two stolen wallets and several empty backpacks and bags on the marsh slope. The fencing down on the marsh terrace is now regularly broken into, with plants being trampled and birds let in to chomp on the baby pickleweed. One woman who lives under the Lake Merritt Blvd bridge has been seen collecting the experimental rocks from inside the pickleweed pens and breaking off trees near the green bridge. The same woman broke many tree limbs and ripped out lots of Manzanita and Artemisia last year. Campers living near the tot lot (and elsewhere around the Lake) have repeatedly broken the irrigation system so that they don’t get sprinkled at night, resulting in significant die-off of the new native plants installed last winter by the water quality basin. Some tents and tarps have killed the lawn beneath them, and others are preventing rainwater from reaching the roots of adjacent trees.The City routinely hires a non-profit organization to provide help to the campers whenever an eviction takes place. But these campers decline the social services, choosing to immediately return to live in the beautiful park setting. The park is much more pleasant than a homeless shelter or a street site with less environmental impact, and food is even delivered to the Lake Merritt campers by a local church. And since the City tolerates their presence for months at a time, despite the public health issues and damage to the landscape, there is every incentive for them to camp there.It doesn’t make sense to add new protective fencing on the marsh terrace if it will be immediately breached, so volunteer activities will be suspended for now. If the City decides to make park campsite removal a higher priority, and implements a plan for sustained low-level daily camping and park curfew enforcement, we could then move ahead with more fencing and planting. Until then, I encourage you all to stop by and see the 10th Street project in action, and view the fall colors of the Toyon berries, gumplant flowers, and pickleweed at the marsh. As always, thank you for your continued interest and support of the Lake Merritt tidal marsh.Best regards,Sam Merritt, November 11, 2015